Hiking a muddy, horse trail through Elk Rock State Park in south central Iowa, taking switchbacks as the riverine forest nuzzled the low bluffs rimming Lake Red Rock, which is just the Des Moines River pinched fat by a reservoir damn. Through patches of oak saplings, I stumbled on a leviathan elm with a trunk thicker than on any eastern tree I’d ever seen.
Far up at its crown, a twisting hole gaped, big enough for a man to den in. It seems like the mouthpiece for a flute. The hole marked the spot where a main limb had cracked off the trunk. Old bark framed the wound in twisted lips. A storm had shorn off other limbs, too. The damage seemed old, since the bark convoluted and crawled back into the holes at the bough. But the canopy still flourished with new growth. The bark grew around the scars in concentric rings, like mountain contours on a topo map. The history of ordeal remains visible in form. And yet, it doesn’t stop a tree from thriving.
© 2022 by Michael C. Just
Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.
You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23
Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002
Four of his short stories have recently been published online:
Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)
The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW
I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October
Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within